I'd been debating this recently. For the price of the epoxy, I'm thinking I'll just put that money toward having my canoe refinished by a pro.

In the meantime, I saw this Bondo product on sale at CanTire a few days ago. It cures in the sun without any hardener. Some might scoff at using this (I'm no handyman) but it actually feels pretty solid. I just touched up the worst spots. Small gouges and deeper scrapes. On clearance for under $10.http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/bondo ... yAodm54F6Q

I've watched a few videos on youtube and it looks pretty easy to do the whole thing with a proper 2 part product. You mix it up in a cup or jar first and pour it on then just roll it out with a paint roller. That's after doing surface prep.

We'll see - that's one advantage of taking care of the Scouts canoes is I have old beaters to practice on

The "ideal" approach is to find out what resin - epoxy, polyester, ?? - was used in the original construction and use the same resin in the repairs. West Systems is one of the preferred epoxy resins. Other options are MAS and System 3. However none of them would work well over top of a polyester resin.

Way back when, my Dad and I patched up a beat up Scout canoe with generic epoxy and filler from Canadian Tire. It looked good when we finished but the patches were all banged off (and new damage added) after the next Triathalon run down Bronte Creek. (There was a Venturer/Ranger triathalon that used to run in Halton Region that involved canoeing/kayaking down Bronte Creek, biking up to Crawford Lake and then cross country run back to Mount Nemo Scout Camp).

It sounded like you were going to skin coat the whole canoe with epoxy.That's why I said don't do it.

My basic routine...

With a felt draw a circle around the damage/hole/crack. The more circular, the better.With an angle grinder I will remove all of the gelcoat within the lines and the lines themselves. (only remove the gelcoat layer to the fresh fiberglass/ or just barely sand fibreglass if that's all that showing)

I use cloth but for this I would use chop for simplicity.

Dry fit four patches to be ready (two inside-two outside)Mix up epoxy or fibreglass resin, brush on a layer to the hole, throw on the patch, barely wet it out, throw on second patch and barely wet it out as well, let dry.When dry mix up another small batch of resin and brush on to fill the weave and small gaps. Use two coats for a very smooth finish.

These two layers of patches and the top coat of resin will come very close to the thickness of the gelcoat sanded off. (disclaimer* I use 6oz cloth so I'm guessing with the thickness of chop)Mask off, prime with proper primer, and two coats of marine paint.

The better prep you do, the better results.

I know epoxy has worked for every material I've ever worked on with boats. Including many plastics.I think bondo is for cars.

That said, tonight we did a first pass on one canoe and I'm no longer sure we have to do a full resurface. I'll post some pictures and video in the next few days. Though I do think we should redo the bottom.

Luckily one of Scout leaders has a brother with a sail boat who has learned to do a lot of repairs over the years, so he came and helped out. He had some West Systems and that's what we used.

Hi Propector16, There are many products available on the market for any type of application. Bondo is not the way to go for hole or resurfacing jobs. The marine industry has specific products depending on size of repair, strength desired, and surface area to be covered. (on top of being an avid tripper, I am also a Yachtsmen and own a '86 CS 36T sailboat, I do an enormous amount of gel coat and fiberglass repairs for both myself and others. I have been restoring the sailboat one one project at a time in between seasons).What are you trying to repair exactly, holes, scratches in gel coat, deep gouges from rocks etc? and how large would the average one be? If you have a pic of the damaged area, that would be great, then I can recommend the easiest and fasted product to use for your application. No point in resurfacing the entire bottom if you don't have to. As someone else mentioned, just repair what you need, blend in the repair and then paint the repair area or whole canoe and it will be good as new. Today's products are far superior to what they used 10 -20 yrs ago, so it will be very strong.

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